Thing 1, 2 and 3

Lately, the teenagers of Shenanigans Inc.have been driving me crazy! Derrick's grandmother always said that the Lord makes teenagers so that you don't miss them when they move out . . . tee hee! For the record, I think she is the smartest woman I have ever met. 

Seriously, though, I know it doesn't help that I have zero patience right now because I am nursing a sick baby with his first ever ear infection,who all of a sudden insists upon being up at all hours of the night, BUT . . . come on, kids. Be kind to your mama! Like this morning. I dragged my exhausted butt of bed and decided to make everyone a breakfast sandwich to start their day. Well, you would have sworn I had given them some day -old, dirty diapers to chow down on because they were irate!

What? I don't want a breakfast sandwich!

Where's my Fruit Loops!

Ugh! Why did you make me breakfast.

Thankfully, Avery, who has not yet entered into that oh-so-adorable teenage condition, gobbled his breakfast right up and then thanked his mama for making breakfast. With ooey, gooey, cranky Leif on my hip all day and two teenagers who do nothing but groan and grumble, it is pretty safe to say that Avery is definitely my favourite child. (Let's pretend I didn't just write that)

Anyhoo . . .

So, I yelled, and I may have threatened to make waffles for Avery on Friday and not offer them any, and I may have slammed a drawer, and I may have texted Derrick that heads were going to roll today, and . . . .

I was definitely not wearing my Mother of the Year pendant this morning. Ugh!

But, for now they are safe because at the moment, I want to grab all three of my big kids and squeeze them tight. I want to smother them in kisses and never let them go.

Why the change of heart, you ask. Well, last night Zoe found an old camera of ours that had been stashed away in Mr. Level-Headed's desk at his Realty Executives office. He brought the camera home a few months ago when he emptied out his office, and for some reason Zoe found it on a shelf in the hallway. Immediately, she checked to see what pictures were on it and was surprised when she found these:

According to the camera, these were taken in 2007, and judging from the pictures, this would have been Elliot's sixth birthday party . . . . awwwwwww! Zoe would have been 9 and Avery would have only been 3. They were so cute! And I bet they would have happily eaten their breakfast sandwiches too without any eye rolling or sassing their mama. I miss these babies.

After we all oohed and ahhed over these photos and reminisced about the good-ol-days on Downsview Dr, we all had a good chuckle when we saw the next photo on the camera:

Leif!

hahahahaha! I guess he was feeling left out.

So, to Thing 1, Thing 2, Thing 3, and Thing 4, know this. Your mama loves you with all her heart; no matter how saucy you are, no matter how many times you roll your eyes at me, no matter how ooey gooey you are or how many nights you keep me from sleeping, you are four of the most precious people to me and you will forever be in my heart.

A Summer Evening Bike Ride

Growing up, I spent the entire summer on my bike.  

As little kids, I remember my friends and I would pretend our bikes were cars and we would whiz around our dead-end street until the sun set and our parents hollered it was time to come in.  As a teenager, my bike allowed me to connect with all my friends who were spread out over the Kennebecasis Valley.  I loved the freedom it offered and the bragging rights I earned by saying "yeah, I biked here on my own".  Ahh, the good ol' days!

For my kids, growing up in a rural area, living on a "country highway", they do not get to use their bikes very often.  It's the one thing I do not like about where we live. Sure, they buzz around our driveway a fair bit, but this is not as exhilarating as riding around the neighbourhood on your own looking for trouble, and so they quickly get bored with their bikes and abandon them in favour of a backyard game of football, soccer, or baseball.

With summer soccer over, we found ourselves last night with an evening free and so we decided to pop across the river to visit Grammie and Grampy.  Then I had a great idea!  This would be a perfect opportunity to go for a bike ride, to show the boys all the best biking routes in my old neighbourhood, and to give them a taste of what my childhood was like.  Unfortunately, my back has not been 100% this summer so I opted to walk and Zoe came along with me.  It was a beautiful evening!  As Zoe and I chatted, the boys zoomed ahead of us.

And they're off . . .

Taking a little break from all his hard work.

Here is the big hill I would go down with no hands and NO HELMET!  How did I ever manage to survive my childhood?

Avery thought it looked too steep for him so he started halfway down.  Kids of the 21st century . . . what wimps!

Near the finish, Elliot decided we were too slow for him and headed back to Grammie's on his own, where he bumped into Grampy coming home from work.

Now, when I was a kid, my dad would jump on his 12 speed and take us on biking adventures, but not these days.  These days he only rides a Harley!  Nonetheless, the boys convinced him to go for a spin around the block with them.

They are quite the gang!

Here are Zoe and Avery trying to keep up with the speed demons, Grampy and Elliot.

When we made it about halfway home, guess who came zipping up behind us?

According to Elliot, riding with Grampy was "epic awesomeness"!

Then it was Avery's turn.

Avery was a little nervous so he gave Grampy strict instructions not to go fast!

By the end, he was no longer scared.

Not being one to get left out of the action, I demanded a turn.  This made the boys roar with laughter!

All I have to say is "Wow"!  Now, I understand why so many people love motorcycles.  It was a blast!  Mr. Level-Headed, I have figured out what we can do when the kids grow up: join a bike gang.  You'll love it!  I promise . . . tee hee!

As you can see, our bike ride down memory lane took an alternative route, but, hey, times change and they do say the future always gets brighter.  Except in our case, the future got a whole lot faster!

Thanks, Grampy!